Forget the fridge, wait for vaccine in sugarbox

The two firms — UK’s Cambridge Biostability Ltd (CBL) and India’s Panacea Biotec — said they are now only waiting to transport their 150 scientists who worked on the project into a new research and development (R&D) facility near Chandigarh, where human trials will begin early next year.

‘‘Most vaccines work only if stored in a temperature ranging from 2-8 degrees. We discovered that when tweaked by Panacea, CBL’s ‘stable liquid’ technology keeps vaccines potent throughout their life cycle, entirely without cold storage. This will drastically cut vaccination costs and make vaccines far more accessible to the poor,’’ said Rajesh Jain, joint-MD, Panacea Biotec.

A fresh grant of $1.7 mn from Britain’s Department for Industrial Development (DFID) will assist joint human trials into Panacea’s five-in-one vaccine cocktail. The vaccine will prevent measles, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough and diptheria: five preventive illnesses that two million children in developing countries die from every year.

‘‘Our vaccine will help save $200 mn that goes into creating cold storage facilities and another $100 mn in vaccines that go waste every year due to improper storage facilites,’’ said Jain.

Roughly one-third of the money spent on developing a new vaccine goes into packaging and delivery, which need to be tailored to suit cold-storage requirements. Only half to one-third of the money goes directly into vaccine development.

CBL’s arrangement coats molecules in protective sugar crystals that dissolve only in the water found in human bodies, and Panacea has adopted the system to human vaccines.

It will begin marketing the invention through international aid agencies, governments and health associations once trials end.

The company, which has clearance from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for human trials, will approach it for clearance once human tests are through.

DCGI Ashwini Kumar told The Indian Express: ‘‘The technology is breakthrough, though success depends on resources and thoroughness of clinical trials, that will go into eventual proof of concept.’’

The World Health Organization (WHO) told the New Scientist that the two firms’ approach is ‘‘promising’’, provided the costs of clinical trials remain competitive.

Jain says the clinical trials will be over in a couple of years as the application — and not the vaccines — is the breakthrough.

Panacea, which started as a medicine store in 1927, had revenues of $70 million (Rs 285 crore) last year.

It spends 4 per cent of its turnover on R&D.